Songkick Discovery says “we’re not going anywhere”

With the Songkickers gearing up for a full on fist fight with Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the American courts next month – having blamed the live giant for the demise of their own ticketing platform – the other Songkickers would like you to know that it’s business as usual, and that they’ll be kicking you in the direction of some fine live songs just like always.

As previously reported, the Songkick ticketing service recently confirmed that it was preparing to completely shutdown. The company told its customers it would this month “complete the shutdown of all ticketing operations we began earlier this year when Ticketmaster and Live Nation effectively blocked our US ticketing business”.

But that’s the Songkick ticketing platform, not the Songkick gig recommendations app which, of course, was sold to Warner Music in July. Many music fans still associate the Songkick brand more with the recommendations app than the proprietary ticketing service that span out of it. Indeed, the core of the ticketing side of the business began life as Crowdsurge, another start-up which merged with Songkick in 2015.

To that end, the bit of Songkick that is now part of Warner Music published a blog post last week clearing up any confusion. It started: “There’ve been some changes afoot at Songkick recently, and we want to bring everyone up to speed. First things first, we’re not going anywhere!”

It goes on: “This summer we, the Songkick Discovery app and team, became part of the Warner Music Group family. Together we’ll be doubling down on our mission to improve the live experience, bring fans and artists closer together and, of course, make sure you never ever miss your favourite artists live. It’s a super exciting step for us, and for our awesome users, and we’re psyched about what the future holds”.

It concludes: “You can still count on us to be the first to tell you about new concerts, and to point you to the fairest, safest places to buy tickets. Though we won’t be selling tickets ourselves, we’ll always be your trusted home for live music online. In short, Songkick [is] still here for you for all of your concert needs. We’re excited to keep moving fast, doing cool shit, and putting fans first. So stay tuned for exciting news coming soon”.

Hurrah for all the cool shit that’s coming soon! Though I doubt any of the gigs being tipped by the Songkick crew will be more entertaining than the upcoming rumble in court between the Songkick ticketing set-up and good old Live Nation. Expect more kicking than songs.